Moorea

IslandsWindward Islands,French Polynesia

Eight saw-toothed ridges rising from a lagoon in French Polynesia, two deep bays cut into a heart-shaped island, and reef sharks you can wade among.

September·Peaking now

Aug–Oct

Moorea at its fullest: the driest, clearest months with the calmest lagoon, and the humpback peak — licensed boats report roughly 80% sighting rates August–October and carry swimmers out to the calving whales just beyond the reef.

Year-round The green ridges and turquoise lagoon, with its resident reef sharks and rays, are here year-round; the humpbacks come July to November.

Moorea's skyline arrives before the island does: eight saw-toothed green ridges lifting out of the Pacific, half an hour by ferry from Tahiti, in French Polynesia. They usually trail a collar of cloud, and one of them, Mou'aputa, has a hole punched clean through its summit. In the Tahitian story the hero Pai threw his spear from Tautira, fifty-five kilometres away, and drove it through the mountain to wake the islanders before thieves could carry off the ridge next door. That ridge is Mount Rotui, the blade of rock between Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay, the two deep inlets cut into the north coast of a roughly heart-shaped island. A road winds up the green interior to the Belvedere lookout, where the two bays sit either side of Rotui. Cook never anchored in the one that carries his name; his ships lay in Opunohu, and the name settled on the wrong water and stayed. Trails climb from the valley floor into humid forest under Mou'aputa, and the higher clearings open onto the reef and lagoon. Almost everything else here happens in the water. From July to November humpback whales come in from the open ocean to nurse their calves just beyond the barrier reef. Swimming with whales is banned outright in most countries. Here a licence allows it, and a boat carries a few swimmers at a time to slip into the blue while a mother and calf drift past below. The reef is one of the most closely watched on Earth, followed since 2004 through five bleaching events, and each time the coral has grown back, reseeded by larvae from reefs hundreds of kilometres away. The best of it needs no boat at all. On the north shore you wade out waist-deep over sand, and blacktip reef sharks slip past your legs while broad stingrays glide over your feet. There is no cage and no barrier, only water clear to the bottom, the reef floor underfoot, and the same eight ridges standing over you that came up out of the sea on the way in.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The lagoon is calmest early — go out for snorkelling or the shark-and-ray shallows in the morning, before the afternoon trade wind ruffles the surface and clouds the water.
Drive up to Belvedere under a clear sky — the high peaks trap cloud by late morning, so go early or you may find the two bays lost in grey.
The reef sharks and rays are harmless but wild — don't chase or feed them; keep still in the shallows and let them drift up to you rather than joining a feeding tour.
Moorea is a thirty-minute ferry from Papeete — rent a car or scooter at the wharf, because the single coast road and the inland lookouts aren't walkable from where the boat lands.
May to October is the dry, cooler season — comfortable humidity and little rain; from November the air turns hot and sticky with heavy afternoon downpours.

Things to do

1
Swim with reef sharks and rays
Wade waist-deep into the sandy shallows of the north-shore lagoon, where blacktip reef sharks slip past and broad stingrays glide over your feet. The water is warm and clear, the animals wild but unbothered — no cage, no boat, just the reef floor underfoot and the peaks rising behind you.
2
Look down on both bays from Belvedere
A road winds up into the green interior to the Belvedere lookout, where Cook's and Opunohu bays open side by side, split by the sharp ridge of Mount Rotui. It is the one place you grasp the whole shape of the island at once — the twin bays, the reef, and the peaks behind.
3
Hike toward the pierced peak of Mou'aputa
Trails climb from the valley floor into Moorea's saw-toothed interior, toward Mou'aputa, the peak with a hole punched clean through its summit. The forest is thick and humid, loud with birds, and the higher clearings suddenly open onto the reef and lagoon far below.
4
Watch the ridge rise on the ferry from Tahiti
The thirty-minute crossing from Tahiti ends with Moorea's jagged skyline lifting straight out of the sea, its peaks usually trailing a collar of cloud. Watching that wall of green grow across the channel is the island's oldest and best first impression.
5
Swim out to the humpback whales
From July to November humpback whales come in from the open ocean to rest and nurse their calves just beyond Moorea's reef. Licensed boats carry a few swimmers at a time to slip quietly into the blue as a mother and calf drift past below. Getting into the water with whales is banned outright in most countries; here it is permitted under licence, and the rules keep the group small.

Watch

Nearby

153 km